I have a love/hate relationship with takoyaki. I really like the little dumplings but I'm opposed to anything being drowned in too much sauce, and the trend, especially at summer festivals, is to slather on too much of that gooey, brown Bulldog sauce.
Takoyaki are bite-size bits of batter cooked with a piece of precooked octopus (tako) and other garnishes on a specially made cast-iron griddle that has golf-ball-size indentations. Often unfortunately translated as "octopus balls," the dish makes first-timers snicker. It refers to the shape of the finished dish — balls of cooked batter served six, eight or 10 to a tray.
Batter is poured into each indentation of the hot, oiled griddle and then octopus, pickled ginger, bits of fried tempura batter, konnyaku and scallions are dropped in place. Once the underside is cooked, the dumpling is skillfully turned with a picklike tool, and the perfectly round morsel gets its shape. Made simply with a mixture of flour, water and eggs, the batter is sometimes fortified with grated yam, especially in the Kansai region.